The Past shall become the Future
by bigk4062
Summary: This is my own take on how the turtles grew up....... 2nd chapter. A little about the growing up boys
1. 5 years old

I have decided to start working on another of my story ideas. (I know, I know, I should finish what I start first, right.) However, this has been on my mind for a while, so I figured might as well start it. Hope you enjoy, and I promise to keep it updated regularly. This story is set during different time periods, therefore, look at the chap. names to find out how old they are

After a hard days work, Splinter warily tucked his sons into bed, feeling his muscles ache from the cold that was settling into the lair. He looked up after tucking Michelangelo in, only to see his two eyes peering at him. Splinter could not help but smile. He knew that Leonardo, his oldest, would refuse to close his eyes until he could see that his three younger brothers were asleep. Splinter watched his eldest for a minute, silently worrying about him. He knew it was going to be hard on the young one in a few years, but Splinter also knew that his sons needed a leader, someone to take care of them and guide them in case they lost their father.

Smiling, Splinter looked over at his youngest son. He hoped that Michelangelo would not wake up with a nightmare again, mostly because they disturbed Splinter a great deal. He could not help but wonder what they meant. From what his youngest son had told him, it seemed that Michelangelo had been having dreams about Yoshi's death. Splinter could not understand it. Had his son read one of his diaries, and pulled the truth from there? On the other hand, perhaps the little one had noticed his Sensei's way of avoiding talking about his Master, and had guessed at what had happened. From what Splinter had observed about the little one, it seemed that his youngest son was very sensitive, and could easily pick up on others feelings. Splinter silently wished that his son would always have that sensitive, caring side, and that he would always have that look of childlike wonderer around him.

Splinter turned his attention to Donatello, his second youngest. At his early age of five, Donatello was already proving himself the brains of the group. His uncanny ability to fix up anything that broke, including an old stove, a microwave, and the TV remote, quickly turned Donny into the mechanic of the group. Splinter was glad to have the handy turtle around, and knew that his son's skills would serve the family well in the next couple of years.

Finally, Splinter turned his attention to Raphael, his second oldest. Here was his problem child. At three, he was already finding ways to go stomping off somewhere, and often tried to leave the lair. The word no was not in this one's vocabulary, which irked his brother Leonardo to no end. Splinter could tell that these two would be having problems in the future, but he hoped that they would be something that the two would be able to work on.

Checking one more time to make sure that his sons were sleeping, Splinter closed the door, taking care not to wake them. He quickly and quietly walked to his room, sitting down on his bed, which consisted of a mattress with a few ratty blankets thrown on it. He wished, yet again, that he could have some real sheets to protect himself from the coldness of the underground, but he knew that he would sacrifice himself to keep his sons safe.

Smiling softly, he thought of his four children, knowing that he was lucky to have them. Even though he still mourned the death of his Master Yoshi, he knew that through these children, one day, he would be able to find out who had taken his Master's life, and get his revenge. Splinter looked over at the clock that he had found in a dumpster, wondering if he had enough time to meditate before he went to bed himself.

Realizing that he did, he folded his legs, and slipped into the Realm of Dreams, arriving at one of his favorite spots, a waterfall that led into a deep pool. This quiet, beautiful place was the one that he choose to think about his deceased mater, and of his pupils, his four sons whom had helped to cure him of the deep depression that he had found himself in a s he roamed the sewers. He loved those four dearly, and wished briefly that he could stay with them forever, and that no harm would come to them. Sighing, the rat ninja master sat down on a rock, careful to keep himself hidden, knowing that he could not let a human see him. He looked out at the water, watching the ripples that appeared as the smooth surface was disturbed by little bugs. Splinter was paying so much attention to his own thoughts that he did not even notice what was going on a t the other side of the lake.

Another man stood near the base of the waterfall, also looking towards the water. However, what he was watching was something much more precious to him than old memories. He was keeping an eye on his young daughter, Mei Phi Chi. He watched her play in the water, wishing that she could do the same in the ocean that was practically right outside their door. Unfortunately, he knew that was impossible. Looking away, he admired the view for a few minutes, before realizing that it was time to take her home and begin their lessons for the day. He was teaching his daughter to become a Shinobi Shaman, just like he was. "Mei Phi Chi, it is time to go."

Splinter's head popped up in surprise, for he had not expected someone else to be here with him. Looking over, he saw an old man holding out a robe, obviously made for a small child. Splinter watched as a small form appeared out of the water, and did a double take. This young child was a turtle, a mutant, just like his sons! Standing up quickly, he silently approached the end of the water, knowing that it was important not to let anyone see him. He almost made it, but right before he reached d the edge of the reeds, he slid, and fell into the water.

Two heads looked over when they heard the splash, surprised at the sound. Mei Phi Chi clung to her father, afraid, for he had warned her about letting other humans see her. Her father smiled at her, and then gently squeezed her shoulders. "My daughter, I want you to go home, I will talk to whoever that was, and find out what they have seen. Mei quickly nodded, grabbed her robe, and concentrated, sending her mind back to the real world, leaving her father alone by the shore.

Once she was gone, the old man raced across the shore, knowing that the other person had not yet come up from the water, and he feared that they might have hurt themselves. Coming towards the reeds where he had heard the other fall n, he bended near the water, looking for a body to pull up. A surprised look covered his face when he noticed that somehow, whoever had fallen in had been able to get out. He could not understand it. After all, he had been watching the spot since he and his daughter had heard the fall, and he surely would have noticed if someone had been able to climb out. All of the sudden, he heard a noise behind him, and turned around in a panic, wondering who was there.

Splinter looked at the man he had seen with the other turtle, and approached him quietly. He hoped to himself that he had not scared the little one by falling in, for she was no longer there, and he was sure that her father had warned her about having humans see her. However, right before he was able to put a hand on the older man's shoulder, the man turned around, and looked Splinter in the eye. A shocked expression came over the other man's face, and he stood there with his mouth wide open, not knowing what to say. Splinter looked at the man for a moment before extending his hand. "Even though I do appreciate you coming to help me, I know you don't want to get your clothes any more muddy than they already are." Splinter said as he helped the other man out of the mud he was standing in. The other man just stared at Splinter. "Who are you?" He asked Splinter, looking the rat up and down in disbelief.

"My name is Splinter, and I live in New York City with my four sons, Leonardo, Michelangelo Donatello, and Raphael. While I am a mutant rat, they are turtles." The older man's eyes lit up. "You mean there were more of the? When I found my daughter, Mei Phi Chi, she told me something of the other four, and I never understood what she had meant." Splinter laughed, and then extended his hand. The other man shook it, and then smacked his forehead. "How rude of me, after all of this talking, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Chung I, and I live in China with Mei Phi, in a small cottage." Chung I smiled at Splinter before asking, "So, how did you find your sons?" Splinter sat down on a rock, motioning for the other man to follow him. Once they were settled, Splinter told him the story of whole story,-- of his master's murder, of his living in the sewers, and of finding the baby turtles swimming in a puddle of ooze, which turned them into their current state.

Chung I stared at Spinster. "That must be what happed to my daughter. I found her swimming around with some kind of green 'ooze' as you called it, in New York City. I was there on business, and walked by her. I did not want the poor thing to die, so I brought her home with me. When I finally brought her to my house, I saw that she was growing. I thought that I as going crazy, so I left her in a box, and went to bed. The next day, I found her sitting on my dresser, even bigger than before. Over the next few months she kept on growing, and eventually, she gained a name, Mei Phi Chi, my beautiful turtle of energy."" Splinter smiled at Chung I for a moment before standing up and stretching. "I'm sure that your daughter is looking for you. "Chung I laughed then stood up. "Perhaps you are right my friend." I hope to see you soon." " Of course you will, and I look forward to meeting your daughter." Chung I smiled then looked away. "My only request is that you don't tell your sons about my daughter," He said, looking back at Splinter, who nodded. Splinter knew what Chung I was worried about, and he was silently wondering about it to. "Then I shall see you soon" Chung I said, shaking hands with Splinter, then, he turned and left.


	2. 7 years old

Splinter watched his sons practice some of the basic moves of Ninjizu; he was exhausted, for he had spent the whole night with Chung I and Mei Phi Chi, trying to convince the young girl to practice her magic. She was refusing, saying that it was not her job to carry on some stupid tradition.  
  
Splinter sighted, looking over at his sons. It was nights like those that made Splinter glad that he had promised Chung I that he would not introduce Mei to his sons. He knew that between her and Raph, Leonardo would go crazy. Fighting back a yawn, he stood up.

"My sons, you may stop now. It is time for breakfast."

Immediately, three of his four young pupils rushed out of the room towards the kitchen. Only Leonardo stayed behind, determined to get his Kata right. Splinter sighed, and then put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Leonardo, it's time for breakfast, you may finish you Kata's later, my son."

Leonardo nodded, and he left the room. Splinter watched his son go, wishing for a minute that Mei would study like Leonardo did. Rubbing his eyes, Splinter yawned again, then shook his head, trying to get rid of the sleepy feeling he had. Splinter wanted to have a clear head, for he could feel some sort of tension in the air, and worried that it would lead to yet another figh between his two eldest sons.

From what he had gathered, Leo was ticked off at Raph, mostly because his younger brother had convinced Mikey to help him 'explore' some of the smaller tunnels outside of their lair, and the two had come across a young cat. Mikey had picked it up, and the two of them had brought it back with them. Leo had been the first to see the cat, and he had tried to get rid of it. Splinter had been in his room, when he had heard screaming. Walking into the living room, he had seen Leo and Raph going arguing back and forth, while Mikey clung to something small and fuzzy. Upon closer inspection, Splinter saw that it was a kitten, and immediately knew what the problem was. He placed on hand on Leo's shoulder, the other on Raph's. When the two stopped, he looked at Mikey.

"My son, what is it that you are holding?" Mikey held out the little kitten, a calico. "Raph and I found him in the sewer; we thought that maybe we could keep him?"

The youngster said, looking at his Master with his already famous puppy-dog eyes. Splinter sighed, and closed his eyes for a minute.

"My son, you know that we can't have pets here, but I promise that I will find a good home for him."

Mikey nodded, and then offered the kitten to his master, who took it. Surprisingly, all the kitten did was curl up in the rat's arm, content to be held, even if it was in the arms of a rodent. Splinter watched Mikey's face as his son realized that his father was not going to let him keep the kitten. Sighing, he handed the animal back to his child, then crouched down until he was face to face with the young one.

"My son, you know that we cannot keep this cat here. We barely have enough food for ourselves, and it would not be far to the kitten to be stuck in a place where they could not get the right amount of food."

Mikey's face brightened for a minute.

"I'll give her some of my pizza! I'm sure she'll love that!"

Splinter groaned silently. His four sons had recently gotten into pizza, and whenever they could, they would try to get some. "That cat won't like pizza Mikey, he eats cat food."

A small voice said. Splinter turned around, only to see Leo standing there with his arms crossed. Splinter could not help but blink in surprise. He had forgotten that his two eldest were still in the room. Raph scowled at his brother, mumbling under his breath. Splinter looked at the turtle, noticing the look on Raph's face. He closed his eyes for a minute, thinking.

"Leonardo, please watch Donatello for a little while, while I take Michelangelo and Raphael out."

Leo looked like he was going to say something at first, but at the last moment he nodded, then left in search of his brainy brother. Splinter turned to Mikey and extended a hand.

"Why don't you give me the kitten, and you two can help me find a place to put her?" Mikey nodded, sniffling a little while he tried not to cry. Raph saw his brothers face, and put his arm around the smaller turtles shoulder. Mikey smiled in appreciation, and Splinter nodded at his son's unusual behavior. Without another word, he left with his two sons following close behind, in search of a place to put the kitten that they had found. Splinter shook his head, wondering what it was the Leo found so wrong about them trying to save an animal. He made a mental note to talk to him about it later, and proceeded to the kitchen. There, he found the two youngest sitting at the table, eating something. Splinter was not sure what it was, and he was not going to ask. Splinter then looked around for the other two.  
  
He saw Raph sitting on the floor, holding a hand over his eye. Splinter knew what that meant and headed to the kitchen to get his son an ice pack. Raph briefly smiled at his father before placing the ice over his swollen eye.

"What happened Raphael?"

Splinter asked, knowing that this was much more than a fight over an animal. Raph shrugged before answering in a barely audible voice.

"Leo's mad because me and Mikey went out of the lair and didn't get in trouble."

Splinter closed his eyes for a moment before looking at his son again.

"You and Michelangelo will be punished later. You should know better than to let the humans see you, for they will not understand who you are."

Raphael managed not to roll his eyes during his mini-lecture, an act that Splinter greatly appreciated. Splinter then patted his son on the shoulder, and gestured towards the dojo.

"Perhaps you should begin your punishment exercises then Raphael. I shall send Michelangelo to join you in a minute. Until then, please do them quietly, and if Leonardo returns to the Dojo, **politely** tell him that I wish to see him."

Raphael nodded, and walked slowly to the Dojo, muttering about how unfair it was that he had to take a longer punishment. He passed by Donny, noticing that the younger turtle was working hard on something, and stopped to watch. After a moment of silence, Donny turned around and looked at him, then back down at his project. "

I found out all of the weird stuff that Mikey put in our lunch, and suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore. So I decided to work on this instead. It's an old radio I'm trying to fix so we can have music while we practice."

Raphael rolled his eyes at his younger brother before replying.

"Yeah, I'm so sure that Splinter will let us practice with music blasting outta your speakers." D

onny shrugged before picking up a screwdriver and getting back to work. Raphael sighed, and then finished his walk into the Dojo to begin his punishment.


	3. 8 years old

In case I haven't said this before, I don't own the turtles. I do own any original characters that might pop up, and since this is me, any songs that may pop up. Enjoy this chapter, and thanks for everyone's support!!!

Raph sat on his bed, staring at his wall. He had just finished yet another fight with Leo, and he was **NOT** in a good mood.

"Stupid Leo, he's always in my way."

His 8-year-old mind was on overdrive, and it was all because of his irritating attitude. Leo had just informed him that he was a nuisance and a liability to this family, and that he should never be aloud to go outside by himself again. Raph muttered under his breath for a minute before sniffling. He could not help but let a few tears fall down, after the fight he had just had with Leo, he was surprised that he wasn't bawling like crazy.

Wiping away a few stray tears, Raph got up to leave his bedroom. Checking the small mirror that hung in the room that was hanging on the wall in the room he still shared with Mikey, he couldn't help but notice that his eyes were still a little red and puffy, and he frowned. Rubbing his eyes, he checked again, and decided that he still needed a few minutes to re-coup himself. Raph stared into the mirror, getting lost in thought.

He didn't know what to do anymore. Lately, Leo and he had not been getting along at all. All they did was fight, and it did not help that Master Splinter was too tired to keep them in line. Instead, all he did was look at Leo occasionally and whisper things under his breath about how he wished that someone could be more like him. Raph knew that Master Splinter wished that Raph could be more controlled and train just as hard as Leo did. However, Raph did not want to be like Leo, he wanted to be himself. He just wished that Master Splinter could understand that...

Halfway across the world, someone else was having an identity crisis. The young female turtle, Mei Phi Chi, and frustrated by her studies.

"Why do I have to study these stupid dusty scrolls all of the time, I want to go outside and play, not stand here and learn to read a language that doesn't even exist anymore."

Mei whined to her father, in perfect English. Only 8 years old, the young turtle knew how to speak in at least five languages, Chinese from her father, English and Japanese from her fathers' friend, Master Splinter, and at least two of the dialects from her native Shinobi language. Even though she had not mastered any of the languages except for Chinese, she knew enough to be able to hold her own in a conversation with anyone.

Mei noticed lately though, that her father was getting frustrated with her, and she could not help but wonder why. She knew that she was being difficult, but she felt that this was too much work for her, and it was not her responsibility to carry on some stupid tradition that barely anyone understood anymore. In fact, her Master was about to yell at her right now. She could see it in his eyes, and she bit her lip and shrunk back a little in response.

Mikey opened the door slowly, knowing that his brother was not in a good mood, and would probably rip his head off for entering their room without knocking and waiting for permission. He noticed Raph staring in the mirror, and saw how red his eyes were. Quickly closing the door, he walked over to his older brother, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong Raph?"

Raph jerked away from his touch, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Nothing Mikey, just leave me alone, I'm not in the mood for your antics right now alright." Mikey winced, which Raph noticed and sighed. He knew that he should not be taking his anger and frustration out on Mikey. Raph sat down hard on his bed, and Mikey followed, leaving little room between the two young turtles. Raph sighed, and glared once at the mirror before looking back at his brother.

"Master Splinter has been acting strange lately, and it's really staring to bother me. Sometimes, I feel like he does not even want me around anymore. Every time Leo and I get into a fight, he only agrees with Leo. He never wants to hear my side of the story, and half the time I feel like he is trying to change who I am. I don't like it, and I don't appreciate it. I'm only 8 years-old, and I don't want to spend hours and hours in the training room like Leo does, I want to have a little fun, that's all."

Mikey smiled at his older brother, before wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it Raph, I know how you feel. Sometimes I feel like Splinter would like to change a few things about me, but I know that he would never want me give up who I am. I know that he doesn't want you to either."

Mikey smiled at Raph before giving him a quick hug, knowing that the other turtle did not like to be hugged long.

"Now come on, it's almost time for dinner; let's see if Master Splinter needs any help."

Raph agreed, and the two turtles walked out of their room, both feeling a little bit better about themselves and each other. Chung I looked at his daughter for a minute before sighing.

"Mei Phi Chi, you need to focus your energy on your training. I know that you feel you do not need to pay attention and practice, but you are the end of the line. I do not have any blood children, and none of the other Shinobi Shamans has even the distinct possibility to be a full- fledged Shaman as you do. Even though many of them have perfected almost all of the hard spells, they do not have the family ties to the Shinobi heritage as you do. When I adopted you as my daughter, I did it with the hope that you would one day take over from me, and you will become the keeper of the Shinobi ways."

Mei felt her face fall, knowing that she was disappointing her father was hurting her deeply. When she was younger, she did not care that she was hurting her father by being selfish. That was, until one day, when she had overheard her father and Master Splinter talking. All she had heard from the conversation was her Master's wish that she could be more disciplined and focused like someone named Leonardo, and Splinter wishing the same for someone named Raphael. Mei didn't know who these people were, but she figured that she would meet them sometime soon, just as he had let her meet Master Splinter. Until then, she had vowed to start apply herself to lessons more, and to listen to her father. She didn't want him to worry about her anymore than he already did.


End file.
